Folding box or crate.



ATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM DAVY, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

FOLDING Box OR CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,333, dated April 2,1901. .tpplication filed December 24, 1897. serial No. 663,322. llomodel.)

To ctZZ w/wnt it may concern:

Be it known. that I, WILLIAM DAVY, a sub.- ject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at 97 Wood street, city of London, England, haveinvented certain new. and useful Improvements in Folding Boxes orCrates, (patented in Great Britain, No. 4,752, dated February 22, 1897,)of which the following is a specification. 1

The object of this invention is to construct the body of a box or cratein such manner that the sides can by suitable hinges be folded upon theupper surface of the bottom and the two ends, also hinged to the bottom,be folded downward and under to lie upon the under surface of thebottom, the said ends into which the end edges of the side pieces can belodged, when the several parts are folded upwardly to form the body ofthe boxor crate for the reception of goods, the lid having ends, beads,or flange-strips to lock the parts together for transport when bound bya cord.

Boxes or crates constructed as above set forth can, when the sides andends are folded upon the bottom, be so reduced in bulk and the parts lieso fiat in contact that a box or crate when opened out and having thedimensions of, say, thirty-six inches long, twenty four inches wide, andtwenty-four inches deep can by folding be reduced from twentyfour inchesto two inches deep, including the thickness of the lid which packs overit.

The right-angled flanges of my corner-strips are bent slightly inward,so that when the two sides are folded upwardly their end edges arepinched and held sufficiently tight to retain them and the ends of thebox in a vertical position during the packing or insertion of the goods.

The hinging of the two sides of the box or crate is from the inside andthe hinging of the two ends from the outside.

I have not referred to fastenin gs other than by cords; but any kind offastener can be adopted, if so desired.

It will be understood that the metal corner-strips give great strengthto resist rough usage and add to the solidity of the article as a box orcrate.

* To hold the ends of the box in position while being packed, astretcher, bar, or the like may be employed.

The annexed drawings clearly show my invention.

Figure 1 is an isometric-a1 perspective elevation of a box in a closedcondition ready for transport and supposed to be filled with goods; Fig.2, a similar perspective elevation with the lid removed and the two endsfolded downward. Fig. 3 represents the several parts of the box foldedin close cont-act ready (when corded) to be stored or to be transported,or returned empty. This figure shows the reduction in bulk to which suchbox is capable.

A is the bottom to the inner face edges B B. The two longer sides 0 Gare hinged to fold inwardly. Thetwo ends or shorter sides D D are hingedin any appropriate manner to the outer or under surface of the ends E Eof the bottom A and are adapted to fold downwardly and under saidbottom. F F F F areangled strips of metal secured to the side edges G GGr G of the ends D D, the spaces H H H H forming pockets for inclosingthe end edges I II lot the two longer sides 0 O. The exposed lips J J JJ of the angled metal strips F F F F are inwardly inclined, so that whenthe ends D D are folded upwardly said inclined lips nip the ends of thesides 0 O to hold the ends D D and also the sides 0 C upright toconstitute the body of the box, a lid K, with end cleats or ribs L L,only being sufficient to retain the several parts temporarily together.

Anymeans of fixing the parts can be adopted, such as cords bound aroundthe box for transport, and during the filling of the box ifthe lidD becanted over at the back for the ribs L L to bear against the two ends DD while the box is being packed said ends D D will be prevented fromfolding outwardly. The cleats or ribs L L and the corner-strips H Hconstitute the sole means for holding the crate or box assembled. Thesecleats'or ribs are only on the opposite ends of the top or lid D, byreason of which the lid may be tent to obtain access to the contents ofsaid box or crate without possibility of the latter collapsing. Besidesthis, the lid may be canted to any extent and the same peculiaradvantage will follow.

I do not propose to employ clips or hooks or other kinds of fastenerswith my improved folding box; but such can be fitted, if so desired.

The box is intended chiefly for light and delicate articles ofmerchandise-such as gloves, silks, hosiery, and the 1ikeit being generalfor manufacturers and warehousemen in sending such goods to customers tohave the boxes returned as empties and which from their bulk in theordinary way are subject to heavy charges for return freightage, besidesrequiring immense storage room to hold them in stock for future use,whereas with my improved box the bulk of the box for the return is soreduced thatfreightage should be reduced in proportion. Again, in thestoring of such boxes only a tithe of room will be required, and fromthe closeness of the several parts of each box they are rendered morehandy and oifer greater facilities for being stacked on edge or on oneanother.

For cratesi. 6., boxes of skeleton frames such as are used for theconveyance of bottles, gas-glasses, crockery, and the like-thisinvention is also specially applicable.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isp In a foldingbox or crate, a bottom, sides 'hinged to the upper sides of the bottomand its edges arranged to fold downward thereon,

ends hinged to the under side of the bottom at its ends and arranged tofold against the under side of the bottom and to be raised to a positionbetween the sides at the ends of the latter, corner-strips attached tothe edges of said ends and provided with approximately right-angledflanges located at a distance ment with the ends during such sidemovement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM DAVY.

Witnesses:

EDMUND S. SNEWIN, WILLIAM OSWALD BROWN.

